58 BORNEO. [c h a p . iv .
34 were new to me. By the end of April I had more than
a thousand species, and they then went on increasingat a
slower rate; so that I obtained altogether in Borneo about
two thousand distinct kinds, of which all but about a
hundred were collected at this place, and on scarcely more
than a square mile of ground. The most numerous and
most interesting groups of beetles were the Longicoms and
Bhynchophora, both pre-eminently wood-feeders. The
former, characterised by their graceful forms and long
antennae, were especially numerous, amounting ■ to nearly
three hundred species, nine-tenths of which were entirely
new, and many of them remarkable for their large size,
strange forms, and beautiful colouring. The latter correspond
to our weevils and allied groups, and in the tropics
are exceedingly numerous and varied, often swarming upon
dead timber, so that I sometimes obtained fifty or sixty
different kinds in a day. My Bornean collections of this
group exceeded five hundred species.
My collection of butterflies was not large; but I obtained
some rare and very handsome insects, the most remarkable
being the Ornithoptera Brookeana, one of the most elegant
species known. This beautiful creature has very long and
pointed wings, almost resembling a sphinx moth in shape.
It is deep velvety black, with a curved band of spots of a
brilliant metallic-green colour extending across the wings
from tip to tip, each spot being shaped exactly like a small